From the time he came out of Nicaragua to play professional baseball in North America, Everth Cabrera had the gift of speed, so much that it’s taken some time for the rest of his game to catch up. As indisputable evidence that it has, Cabrera was named a first-time All-Star, the only Padres player chosen Saturday to take part in the Midsummer Classic at Citi Field in New York.

Four years after the Padres picked the versatile infielder in the Rule V draft of unprotected players – the Colorado Rockies exposed the switch-hitting prospect despite the fact that he’d led all of minor league baseball with 73 stolen bases in 2008 – Cabrera was recognized as one of the majors’ best all-around shortstops.

"My happiest day was when Buddy called me into his office in '09 and told me I made the team, but I didn't cry then," said Cabrera, referring to manager Bud Black. "When Buddy told me this today, it made me even happier. I cried."

Cabrera was the only Padres player to start each of the first 69 games – 35 of them wins – and he was batting .305 when sustaining a hamstring strain that put him on the disabled list. Also developing the skill and willingness to take more walks, he elevated his on-base percentage from .324 last year to .382 at the time he was sidelined on June 16.

By far, Cabrera's greatest improvement has been as a right-handed hitter, a side where he's batting more than 200 points higher than last year. Cabrera hit just .195 against left-handers in 2012, maintaining a .266 on-base percentage, but his 2013 numbers are .396 and .455.

Thus, Cabrera put himself in even greater position to steal bases, a category in which he led the National League with 44 last year. He was already up to 31, best in the majors, when going on the disabled list.

Moreover, while a spectacular shortstop who in years prior was often prone to mistakes on the seemingly routine play in years prior, Cabrera has become as dependable as he is flashy and strong-armed. His four errors and fielding percentage of .988 rank him among the NL’s most proficient shortstops at glovework.

The irony is, not all that long ago, the Padres had Cabrera playing some second and third base as well as taking flyballs, if only in the desire to get his wheels into play. Cabrera began last year with Triple-A Tucson, but was summoned back to San Diego when the middle infield of Jason Bartlett and Orlando Hudson both got off to unproductive starts.

Throughout the last couple months, Padres’ manager Bud Black has referred to Cabrera as “arguably our team MVP,” a contention that held even mor e water after the Padres went 1-10 in the last 11 games before Cabrera’s reactivation from the DL on Friday.

Cabrera said he feared that the timing of his injury might cost him his shot at the All-Star Game. (The leading vote-getter at shortstop, Troy Tulowitzki of the Colorado Rockies, may be coming off the DL just in time to play in New York.) Meanwhile, he had everybody telling him he belonged, regardless of injury.

Two friends back home in Nandaime came to mind when Cabrera indeed got the news Saturday. He invoked the names of left-hander Duglas Dumas and right-hander Edy Talavera, the friends who pitched to Cabrera all winter to hone his hitting from both sides, day after day after day.

There remains a cloud hanging over Cabrera and even a wonder over his availability to the Padres over the remainder of the season. His name was among those reportedly linked by documents to Biogenesis, the South Florida lab that's been investigated by major league baseball for allegedly providing players with performance-enhancing drugs. The results, and consequences, of the MLB investigation are pending.